MyStory

Ms Chia Yin Keng
Former Civil Servant 

Do you know that you share a very important birthday with our country? 3rd December is the date when Singapore’s National Anthem, the new flag and Coat of Arms (State Crest) were first unveiled to the newly-self-governing state. How do you feel about that?

From the time I was in school, I already knew that 3rd December 1959 was very special! It was in the school textbooks, that the Head of State assumed office on 3rd of December 1959. My mother told me when I was born on the 3rd of December 1959, actually KK Hospital gave us free diapers and milk powder with hospital fees waived, for those who were born on that day.

Well, I was born on a special day when a new Singapore was launched!

What do you recall of your growing up years?

I grew up in the Naval Base at Sembawang, in the staff quarters for people working with the British. We stayed there till 1967 before moving to Toa Payoh. My father was working as a blacksmith for the British. There were four of us in the family, my parents, my younger brother and I.

Looking back, comparing with my other friends, I think my growing years were quite comfortable, not very poor because definitely I had a roof over my head! I had three meals a day. In fact, I remembered very clearly that I could even have half-boiled eggs every morning. Not that bad, but of course life back then, if you talk about eating chicken, actually we could count the number of times we eat chicken in a year - Chinese New Year and my grandparents’ birthdays.

Our games were very simple then, we played by ourselves because there was no such thing as computer games. So we played games like chapteh chapteh, five stones and if you want to run around, then you play games like thief and robber or pasang (hide and seek). You know, it was all these simple games, where it involved more imagination and physical running around.

Because my father was working for the British then, we had to move when the British pulled out. When we moved to Toa Payoh, because it was the first phase of development, actually there were only a few blocks in Lorong One, Toa Payoh that were ready. And the surroundings were all kampungs and vegetable or pig farms!

For me to get to my primary school, I had to walk through the kampung to get out to Braddell Road! There was no school, no market, no provision shop, nothing in Toa Payoh then. So it is very ulu! It was kampung, it was literally kampung. It was only later when all the flats started coming up then all the kampung disappeared literally before my eyes.

The thing that I do recall is that the three-roomed flat was considered good quality and you get your own toilet and bathroom. In the Naval Base, we didn’t have our own toilet and bathroom. There were shared toilets and bathrooms and also shared kitchen in Naval Base, so when we shifted to the three-room flat, it is different because everything was our own. We don’t have to share a kitchen toilet or bathroom so it was good.

What are some of the biggest changes between the Singapore of your childhood and now? Could you share more about them?

Singapore is so different now. Just looking at Toa Payoh Garden itself, it’s already so different! At that time, to have a garden in Toa Payoh, it was ‘Woh, woh, woh, very good, very good!’ A lot of people went to the garden and we didn’t have to go all the way to Botanic Gardens. Weekends, everybody went there to take photographs. Seriously, it was very crowded.

And back then, there were quite a number of occasions when there were blackouts. I was stuck in the lift once with my grandmother. Very traumatic experience you know, because when the lift stopped last time, there was no such thing as emergency landing. Sorry, you are stuck means you are stuck inside! And there was no emergency light inside, meaning to say that blackout means it was really blacked out, really dark inside, totally black, you could see nothing! All you could do was to try and find the alarm button and press it, hopefully somebody would come to rescue soon.

Also, life, work, job availability and all that, I think these have also changed a lot. Back then I mean in the ‘70s because there was also the British pull-out, there was also quite a lot of concern, whether Singapore could survive. In terms of pay at that time, the standards of living were not that high. The British was pulling out so we didn’t know whether we were able to survive or not. Finding new jobs, this particularly affected my family because my grandfather and father were working for the British. So it was like, what were they going to do, what kind of jobs were they going to find. It is not so easy like now, you just go out and find a job that kind of thing.

So that compared to now, that is a lot of difference. Of course, Singapore has also prospered, we have many MNCs, many companies that are set up here, many factories and all that, so it has changed a lot. Back then there were not many MNCs and no factories, we have not really developed our economy.

Is there anything you miss about Singapore from the past?

Yes, especially Chinese New Year. Last time during Chinese New Year, we played with fire crackers, so it was a very noisy, joyous occasion. For kids like us, very good because you know why, every time you visit during Chinese New Year, you get ang pow (Mandarin: red packet). But last time ang pow contained five cents and ten cents only. You are very lucky if you could get a 20-cents ang pow!

But of course I also remembered an incident involving one of my neighbours, a boy, probably about three years old. He had put all his fire crackers in his pocket and he carried one joss stick around because he wanted to light his fire crackers, but he accidentally lighted the firecrackers in his pocket and the whole bunch of firecrackers in his pocket actually exploded. He went to hospital.

Are there changes that you find positive? Could you share them with us?

Actually in terms of achievements, I think we have come a long way, we have built up a country financially, we have a system that works economically. We have got good, excellent records, in terms of financial viability, a non-corrupt system, for efficient government engine and all that. I think we are there.

More than ten years back, when I went to the United States and Canada and told them I was from Singapore, the people there asked, "Is that part of China?" But nowadays it is different. When you go overseas and say you are from Singapore, they say "Oh Singapore, I heard this is good, that is good." Even on my last trip to Japan, I met these Japanese who were saying "Oh Singapore, I just came back from Singapore, from this seminar and that kind of thing." I think we are there in terms of reputation.

We are known for our clean and green environment. Even the Japanese are very impressed, they say, "Wah, your country is very clean and very green, you know, there are a lot of trees, even on the road you know, as you travel along the highway."

Do you think it is important for Singapore to be independent?

Of course. Well we want our Singapore identity right? How can you have a Singapore identity if you are not independent?

Have you ever been abroad for a period of time? Or on holiday? What do you miss about Singapore when you are away?

Yes, I’ve been overseas for holidays. Naturally I miss our local food like laska and spices while away. The kind of feeling I get when I’m returning from overseas is I sigh "home again" when the plane reaches Changi Airport. Singapore is safe as it does not have natural disasters such as earthquakes and typhoons. I find that this kind of environment, work system, transport system, school system, office environment, you know as a whole, all these things add up.

What does it mean to be a Singaporean to you?

Well, I think this identity is something that might not be universal throughout Singapore. Some people may not feel the same way but I supposed for my generation, we are looking at things compared to, say our living conditions, environment, our studies, our school environment back then, they have improved so much over time. Now it’s so much different. So the way that we are brought up, the way we are so-called conditioned and how we see ourselves, will be different from today‘s generation. Today’s generation is different. They grow up relatively prosperous, their parents provide them with a lot of material things. So I think, when we say Singapore identity, we mean and measure identity differently.

I would think for us, it’s the time when we were under Malaysia and when we were kicked out, how were we going to survive? What was the livelihood going to be like? So history shows that we made through it! Didn’t we?

What hopes and aspirations do you hold for Singapore?

To continue to grow, prosper. These are the things which are journeys, it’s not the destination. So we will continue to evolve along with the world systems and grow. I think we can continue to maintain our prosperity and independence.